What is your favorite RPG?

[Flash1087]

I don't think it's coming to the US but it is being translated unofficially:
http://www.mother3.org/

Are these guys connected with Starmen.net at all?

[108 Stars]

Yes, you have to play around with the materia. The characters are what I was saying got lost.

And you kinda just proved my point.

I said that the basic stats of the characters are still important too, even if you reach Level 99 Aerith won´t deal the same damage as Cloud unless you back her up with heavy materia support (=which leaves fewer slots for more important abilities).
Besides I think a character should be defined more by his story-background than by him being "the healer" or "the warrior". I want to choose myself who to take which role in my party.
It´s just a 100 times better to have influence in the character´s development imho than to be tied to what the game tells me, like in Phantasy Star for example. I can live with job-systems like in Final Fantasy Tactics or Dragon Quest VI and VII, but I find playing around with materia (or junction in FF VIII) even better.

[RedComet]

Are these guys connected with Starmen.net at all?

Nope. The Mother3.org and Starmen.net are two separate teams working on the game. I haven't really kept up on it, but the translator, or at least one of them (not sure if there's more than one), for the Starmen.net collaboration Tomato used to work for FUNimation. So there's a professional or former professional, depending on how you slice it, working on that one.

I'm not sure at the moment whether or not I agree with anyone starting this sort of thing so soon after the release, but Nintendo doesn't seem to have any intention of bringing it stateside. Kind of sad too. I'm no fan of the Mother series (haven't played any of them >_>), but there certainly seems to be a large enough fan base to turn a profit to merit a domestic release. Then again, I've no fancy business degrees to base my claim on, so who knows.

[Demonic Weasel]

I said that the basic stats of the characters are still important too, even if you reach Level 99 Aerith won´t deal the same damage as Cloud unless you back her up with heavy materia support (=which leaves fewer slots for more important abilities).
Besides I think a character should be defined more by his story-background than by him being "the healer" or "the warrior". I want to choose myself who to take which role in my party.
It´s just a 100 times better to have influence in the character´s development imho than to be tied to what the game tells me, like in Phantasy Star for example. I can live with job-systems like in Final Fantasy Tactics or Dragon Quest VI and VII, but I find playing around with materia (or junction in FF VIII) even better.

You're still missing my point. I can see that you like to have as many options as possible with which to deviate from the main plot, (a popular trend that I have limited use for) but the customization takes the technical interest away from the characters because they can be whatever you want them to be. Obviously that appealed to you and the majority of the gaming world, but the character's relevance is reduced entirely; the only thing that's at all unique about them anymore is whatever background they do have attached.

And just so you know, I don't think that just because certain characters are warriors or healers defines them; it defines their battle persona only.

[108 Stars]

You're still missing my point. I can see that you like to have as many options as possible with which to deviate from the main plot, (a popular trend that I have limited use for) but the customization takes the technical interest away from the characters because they can be whatever you want them to be. Obviously that appealed to you and the majority of the gaming world, but the character's relevance is reduced entirely; the only thing that's at all unique about them anymore is whatever background they do have attached.

And just so you know, I don't think that just because certain characters are warriors or healers defines them; it defines their battle persona only.

Sorry, I guess I really am missing your point. What else, besides their background-story and their "battle persona" is there (or should be there) about them?
In Phantasy Star characters had both of these aspects, a story and a fixed battle persona. Do you mean that both these aspects should be in common?

[Vehemont]

Well I had recently popped in FFX these past few days and I forgot how great this game is. It has been about four years since I first beat this game, and after playing through it again I am at the Calm Lands. I think it is now a toss up between FFX and FFVII. You see this is the first FF game I have really played. Well my first one is actually FF8 but I just played it at a friends house so I don't really call that my first. I didn't play FFVII until my friends told me to try it two years ago. As for what Demonic Weasel and 108 Stars are saying, I beleive you are both right. Oh, 108 Stars I have a question for you.... where did you get that, You are....Auron thing? I know you have to answer questions or something so can you direct me to where I can do that?

[Demonic Weasel]

Sorry, I guess I really am missing your point. What else, besides their background-story and their "battle persona" is there (or should be there) about them?
In Phantasy Star characters had both of these aspects, a story and a fixed battle persona. Do you mean that both these aspects should be in common?

What I'm saying is that the characters in FF7 don't have much of a battle persona because you can do what you want with them. It's about the materia, not the characters.

So, yeah, basically character selection is null.

[Dartagnan1083]

having set character types offers more of a challenge since you have to know how to deal with situations with what you are given.

You may think it'd be real handy to have the annoyingly 2dimensional sweetie healer use weapons better for more damage. But some believe that you should deal with the limitations and use your brain to find a solution rather than create one via a more convenient arrangement.

Control that lets you decide what characters can do is fine.
Just so long as you have WORK for it and can't go back on your changes.

[Flash1087]

Nope. The Mother3.org and Starmen.net are two separate teams working on the game. I haven't really kept up on it, but the translator, or at least one of them (not sure if there's more than one), for the Starmen.net collaboration Tomato used to work for FUNimation. So there's a professional or former professional, depending on how you slice it, working on that one.

I'm not sure at the moment whether or not I agree with anyone starting this sort of thing so soon after the release, but Nintendo doesn't seem to have any intention of bringing it stateside. Kind of sad too. I'm no fan of the Mother series (haven't played any of them >_>), but there certainly seems to be a large enough fan base to turn a profit to merit a domestic release. Then again, I've no fancy business degrees to base my claim on, so who knows.

Go play EarthBound right now, or we can't be friends anymore.

[Demonic Weasel]

I really need to stop disagreeing with people, but I have to say that Earthbound was pretty bad.

This time, however, I don't have any real reasoning behind that except my personal opinion.

[Flash1087]

I would like to ask why you think that. I don't wanna make it a debate, I'm genuinely curious. What was it that discouraged you from it?

[Dartagnan1083]

it's 'probably' for at least one of the reasons it didn't click with me.

The game seems mostly based of the charm and humor of the world it presents.
Because the battle system is shallow even compared to the old 8bit Dragon Quest games.

Strong presentation met with weak gameplay.

[Demonic Weasel]

The system irritated me and I didn't find the humor humorous. Essentially I had the same reaction as Dartagnan.

[Alianger]

What I'm saying is that the characters in FF7 don't have much of a battle persona because you can do what you want with them. It's about the materia, not the characters.

So, yeah, basically character selection is null.

And that's where you're wrong.. Throughout the game you'll have to choose characters depending on their stats and limit breaks at the time, in addition to choosing from a limited assortment of materia and equipment. You're also forced to play with characters you might not want to or haven't leveled up in some situations.

It's only by the end (third disc), when the whole game world becomes available and you can get much stronger than what's required to beat the game, that you can stop worrying about these things and focus only on materia (after leveling up to the 70s-90s). I guess you could call this a flaw of the game, but you're not encouraged to do it other than for fighting 2 optional bosses, and they at least tried to make the final boss harder if you're at the max level.

It's mostly easy to see (at least imo) what the developers had in mind for the characters different roles in battle. For example, Aeris only had healing or status buffing limit breaks and she was pretty weak. Sounds like the typical mage/priest, doesn't it? As I said before it is an unbalanced game as some of them are just bad at everything (though not too bad for the task of beating the game), but that's kind of beside the point so I won't go deeper into it..

Whether you should have full customization or not is more a matter of personal preference than a measurement of quality in the game's battle system.. It doesn't make the game more or less challenging either (if done well) as it has both pros and cons. I would only see it as a problem if the character's background didn't match the role you made for it in the game at all. In most console RPGs, battle role customization is all you have so why not make the most of it?

[Demonic Weasel]

Battle customization has only recently become 'all that console RPG's have.' I assure you, before the advent of the 32-bit era roles were more set. Whether or not that's a good thing really seems to be down to personal taste.

And I'm not wrong in what I'm saying. I admitted that the limit breaks are a difference, but most importantly, they're the difference. Your example of Aeris doesn't mean anything; with enough Materia fiddling you can get her to be one of the strongest attackers in the game.

It is about the materia whether you want to look at it that way or not.